Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" tells the story of Louise Mallard, a housewife who learns that her husband has recently died in a train accident. She responds as any loved one would, and weeps uncontrollably until she finally pulls her self together. Once she is alone, the weeping ceases and deep thought ensues. She becomes overjoyed by the fact that she is on her own now, not held down by a loveless marriage, and able to start over. Her extreme happiness comes to an sudden end when Mr. Mallard surprisingly enters the house. Louise's new self-ambitions shatter, causing her heart to stop. The central idea of the story is one of individuality, in that without declaration of the true self, life is not worth living.
The central character, Louise Mallard, seems to change throughout the story. At the beginning of the story she is viewed as weak and feeble. Her friends have to console her over the death, for they are scared of her heart condition. Once her friends are gone, and Louise does a little thinking, she seems to change altogether. She is now free from her husband, excited by the fact that "there would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself." Once Louise achieves assertion of her true self, characteristics of strength and high self-esteem contrast her earlier personality. "There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory." The central character's dynamic personality is important to the story's central idea, given that she came to realize how good life could be, "free from restraints.".
The central conflict in the story is between Louise's recent self-assertion and the depression associated with continuing life with her husband. All the freedoms and desires she has just discovered are gone. This is overwhelming to Louise, her heart breaks, and she dies. She is too overjoyed at what could have been, the freedoms she could of have, and the desires she could of fulfilled.